Jennifer Moorhead

A glamorous, young influencer faces captivity, paranoia, and the terror of unfiltered reality in this twisty thriller from Jennifer Moorhead, bestselling author of Broken Bayou and Poison Wood.

Young, gorgeous, and influential, Jade St. James should be boosting her glam lifestyle with a high-profile wedding to a dreamy LSU quarterback. Instead, after spotting a scarred bartender and nosy reporter, she bolts from the venue and wakes up in a secluded cabin, deep in the Louisiana swamp—injured, confused, and terrified.

Jade’s caretaker is a mysterious woman who claims to protect her. But from what? From whom? While recovering, Jade scours her memories for clues from threatening DMs to a deadly fire from her past. The more Jade reflects, the less the woman’s claims make sense. She needs to escape. But if her captor doesn’t kill her, the unforgiving swamp will—no matter how skilled a runner Jade is, or rather, was.

Accustomed to comfort and luxury, Jade must now scratch and claw to survive. She soon discovers the real threat is closer than she thought. And her picture-perfect life, like the swamp around her, conceals untold terrors.

WATCH HER RUN

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Ambitious crime reporter Rita Meade is riding high after her docuseries on the Broken Bayou serial killer. But when an anonymous tip promises the story behind a skull found deep in the Louisiana forest, she hesitates. Because this one strikes too close to home.

As a teenager, Rita attended Poison Wood Therapeutic Academy for Girls in that forest, but the school shuttered its doors after a series of disturbing incidents. Now the man who confessed to the murder of her classmate has recanted, and Rita’s father, the judge who put him away, has fallen ill.

Summoned back to those haunted woods, Rita sorts through the mysteries of a rotting schoolhouse basement. She digs up emotions she buried along with her mother―and secrets she’s tried hard to forget. But when her investigation spreads to her family tree, the TV cameras swing her way. How far will she go for a story that could threaten everything and everyone she loves?

POISON WOOD

Dr. Willa Watters is a prominent child psychologist at the height of her career. But when a viral video of a disastrous television interview puts her reputation on the line, Willa retreats to Broken Bayou, the town where she spent most of her childhood summers. There she visits her aunts’ old house and discovers some of her unstable mother’s belongings still languishing in the attic―dusty mementos harboring secrets of her harrowing past.

Willa’s hopes for a respite are quickly crushed, not only by what she finds in that attic but also by what’s been found in the bayou.

With waters dropping due to drought, mysterious barrels containing human remains have surfaced, alongside something else from Willa’s past, something she never thought she’d see again. Divers, police, and media flood the area, including a news reporter gunning for Willa and Travis Arceneaux―a local deputy and old flame.

Willa’s fate seems eerily tied to the murders. And with no one to trust, she must use her wits to stay above water and make it out alive.

BROKEN BAYOU